Eastern Oregon Roadtrip (Portland, Pendleton, La Grande: hotels, school, floor)

[Deezus]

So I'm thinking about taking a roadtrip this summer with my girlfriend on a sort-of connect-the-dots-tour or much of NE Oregon. I've been to a lot of the places at one point or another, but girlfriend hasn't, and I've never had much time to explore a lot of the area.

So far I'm thinking about this as an itinerary--maybe taking about 5-7 days. I actually looking forward to the amount of driving on this trip as I like driving in the Eastern part of the state.

Leave Portland and drive over Hwy 26 through Maupin down past the old ghost towns at Shaniko and Antelope then drive onto Fossil and then check out the Painted Hills and Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day National Monument. Stay in either Mitchell or Dayville possibly.

Drive the next day drive to Baker City, stopping at Canyon City and maybe take a small hike in that area. Stay in Baker City for the night. Maybe spend a day exploring the Elkhorn mountains. After that we'd drive up through Halfway, check out Hells Canyon and drive to Joseph and Wallowa Lake. Spend a couple days there hiking and relaxing, and then drive back to Portland in one day, stopping at Pendleton...

Any suggestions on cool places to check out along the way or other diversions that might be enjoyable to throw in this itinerary? Where's good to stay Hwy 26 from Mitchell to Baker City? Is Baker City worth staying in?

Thanks for any suggestions in advance.

[karlsch]

Your route seems to be good. You turn onto Hwy 7 from 26 to get to Baker City.

You might want to stay in Baker City two nights.

After the first night you can visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center:
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center | Oregon/Washington | Bureau of Land Management (BLM) | US Department of the Interior
and also drive the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway:
Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway | Scenic Drives USA

Make sure you stop at the Anthony Lakes area and maybe do some hiking:

YouTube - Anthony Lake from the top of Gunsight

Visit the Sumpter dredge:
Oregon State Parks and Recreation: Rates

If you are in this area on a weekend you can ride the Sumpter Valley Railway:
Sumpter Valley Railway: Home


YouTube - Sumpter Valley Railroad Fall Photo Train, 2010

If, for some reason you are a fan of the movie Paint Your Wagon and don’t mind some difficult driving, you can visit the filming site:



YouTube - "PAINT YOUR WAGON" Behind The Scenes - The Making Of

After your second night in Baker City, head out to Hells Canyon. I recommend that you take a jet boat ride:
Hells Canyon, Hells Canyon jetboat trips, Hells canyon idaho, hells canyon oregon

From there you can travel to Joseph via the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway.

[hamellr]

You need to check the hours on the hotel in Mitchell. It's not always opened, and has very limited number of rooms when is. The Hotel in Dayville is pretty nice for what it is, but I'd suggest you stay in Fossil and spend a bit more time around there, then drive through to John Day or perhaps all the way to Baker.

I second Sumpter, you have to go there. Union - South East of La Grande (you can get to it from Baker, take 237 north of Baker, then take 203 into La Grande) is a great little town to visit. The hotel there is completely restored and extremely nice to stay in - but it is haunted.

Baker is a pretty large town, quite a few hotels and dining options in the area.

[Deezus]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sumpter looks interesting--I think I'm going to add that one into the itinerary... Where's the best place for a dayhike around the Elkhorns?

Any good places to stay in Fossil or Baker City? Is the Geiser Hotel in Baker City worth staying in?

Also I've seen the driving times from GoogleMaps, but in general how long should it take to get from John Day to Baker City?

[hamellr]

I highly recommend the Bridge Creek Flora Inn in Fossil - Bridge Creek Flora Inn - Home

The reason I'd stay longer in Fossil is to go both museums, and maybe spend an hour or so digging fossils up behind the school. Be sure to wake up early in the morning, and just sit on the porch of the Inn. There is a small herd of deer that walk through town many mornings.

The drive from JD to Baker City is about two hours. The roads are pretty curvy and two lanes so you can't really drive over the speed limit too much, especially if you get behind a slower car.

[Terryj]

The old Union Hotel is great, it like stepping back in time, I only heard that the third floor of the hotel is haunted.

[Deezus]

Thanks, I'll definitely look into both of those places...

I'm thinking about staying Fossil the first night, I'm just wondering what the best route is to hit both the Sheep Rock and Painted Hills unit from there. I can't remember if it's best to drive down to the Painted Hills and Mitchell first or to drive back up around Spray to Sheep Rock.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Deezus

Thanks, I'll definitely look into both of those places...

I'm thinking about staying Fossil the first night, I'm just wondering what the best route is to hit both the Sheep Rock and Painted Hills unit from there. I can't remember if it's best to drive down to the Painted Hills and Mitchell first or to drive back up around Spray to Sheep Rock.

I had to look at a map too, but it looks like either way is going to have you doing a lot of back tracking.

You would come from Fossil just north of the Painted Hills, then travel west to Sheep Rock. Then to get back to Mitchell you'd have to reverse back to the Painted Hills, or keep going all the way into Prineville and looping back around to Mitchell.

On the other hand, there are three points in that area called Sheep Rock so I might have the wrong one.

[Deezus]

So just a further question--how is the snowpack in Eastern Oregon mountain ranges this year? I tried finding some info online, and it looks like as is the case in the Cascades this year, snowfall was pretty heavy.

I'm wondering if the Wallowas and the Elkhorns would still have too much snow for a lot of the best higher elevation alpine hiking early next month. Would many of the trails even be open yet--or is probably going to be until July when the snow will have melted enough for good access?

[Fiddlehead]

I would have to think that the High Wallowas and Elkhorns will likely be snowbound until July this year. It could get hot anytime, but above about 6,000' that will not be enough to melt things out very quickly. The low elevations could be nice. But this is the thunderstorm season, so it can get very cold when they settle in and hail on you. I once saw a bunch of bikers holed up in a Prairie City coffee shop trying to wait out the storms. On the other hand, it could be beautiful. Luck of the draw.